Los Angeles, CA (USA), July 2009 - Online courses are a great way for schools to provide learning to students, especially those who otherwise could not take these courses. Science courses present a challenge to online-course providers because of the difficulty of delivering good laboratory experience.
Lab kits provide an expensive solution that fails because of limited experiments, no supervision, and no accountability. Simulations provide fake science that fails because of the absence of interaction with the real world. An exciting innovation fully meets the challenge.
Paracomp, Inc., the producer of Smart Science® instructional units, has joined forces with Advanced Academics, Inc., a subsidiary of DeVry Inc., to provide a full solution for online science courses. These science lab units include pre-recorded real experiments, traditional hands-on experiments, and a combination of both in hybrid labs.
Advanced Academics, based in Oklahoma City, partners with schools in more than thirty states to provide effective online learning opportunities to middle and high school students. Advanced Academics is accredited by The Commission of International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA) and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) and meets the standards of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Smart Science® education provides the only online product that meets the definition of and goals for laboratory experiences in the National Research Council's "America's Lab Report". The experiments are not simulated and are not demonstrations. Students interact closely with more than 1,400 pre-recorded real experiments and/or hands-on experiments to collect their own individual data, which is stored in a server database.
According to Dr. Harry Keller, president of Paracomp, Inc., "Our partnership will help online students receive the science education they deserve. These students will have the best science lab experiences possible with modern technology. We also provide state-of-the-art administrative tools."
Currently, Smart Science® instructional units are used across the country in grades 5 through college at large and small, rural and urban, prestigious and poor, online and traditional educational institutions. They provide science experiences for students at very low cost. The 100% online delivery also makes our schools greener by reducing paper use and eliminating hazardous lab waste.
